"Too Dry to Cry"

Hot Charity

Artists:

In every conceivable way, Willis Earl Beal's 2012 debut Acousmatic Sorcery gave it to you raw in ways both intriguing and frustrating; his interactive candor and gutbucket howling occasionally seemed gimmicky when couched within its chintzy lo-fi production and all-too-quotable backstory. Fortunately, "Too Dry to Cry", from his upcoming sophomore bow Nobody knows. (out September 10 via Hot Charity), focuses on Beal's powerhouse vocals.

Meditative and horny as hell, Beal howls, "I'm just sittin' at the table, thinkin' about me," and by extension, he's thinking about his next conquest. He rides a single melody, expressing his frustrations in language that's surreal ("don't leave me hangin' like a spider with no fly"), startlingly raunchy (wait for the a cappella part), and visceral. No longer having to introduce himself, Beal delivers on the promise of Acousmatic Sorcery with an idiosyncratic, modernist take on the blues that's cocksure-- even if the lyrics are about going way too long without getting lucky.